"The Gift of the Magi" tells the story of a young couple Jim and Della. Christmas is coming, and each wants to buy the other a present. The problem is that they really cannot afford to spend a lot of money on presents. Jim treasures his gold pocket watch, which has been given to him by his father. Della treasures her long, beautiful hair.
As the story progresses, the two struggle to think of ways to buy a Christmas present for each other. Finally, on Christmas Eve, Della realizes she has next to no money left for her husband's Christmas present. What will she do???
At this point, she goes into town to search for something to buy with the little money she has. She knows that her husband's most prized possession is his pocket watch. She thinks that maybe she could buy him a chain for it, but they are all too expensive.
That's when Della realizes she has a way to EARN the money -- her hair. She runs out and has it cut short. She is able to sell the hair for enough money to buy the chain for her husband's watch.
Her husband comes home with a present for Della. When he sees her, however, he is shocked. She tells him she cut her hair for his present. When Jim hands her his present, we can see why he was so shocked. He had bought her a pair of really expensive hair combs. How could he afford such a gift? He had sold his most prized possession -- his watch -- just to buy his wife a present.
Of course, now that Della has short hair, she cannot use the combs. And, now that Jim has sold his watch, he has no use for the chain. That aside, their love for one another is the greatest gift of all.
And so, Della's problem was how to buy a gift for her beloved husband. She solves this problem by selling her most prized possession, her hair.
